Fringesanity!

I didn’t write much during February/March – on the blog at least; reviews, on the other hand I wrote plenty of – mostly because I was crazy-busy seeing all sort of shows in what is Adelaide’s mad month (or so) of festivals.

Oddly enough, despite seeing 34 shows (and a rock festival), I didn’t see as much as I originally intended. Why? Because my brain (apparently) liked what I was exposing it to so much that it didn’t want to stop thinking about it - even when I was trying to make it shut the hell up so I could get some sleep. This meant that I spent a lot of the time feeling fairly wretched, and I ended up cutting back on shows (a little) in order to rest.

Anyway, here’s a rundown of what I saw. Anything I’ve reviewed will have a short blurb plus a link to the ATG site where the review is published; anything else will have a longer description.

Day 1
Friday February 19

Scaramouche Jones – ATG review.

What a way to start the Fringe.

In a small space at Higher Ground I sat and watched one of the most amazing pieces of theatre I’ve ever experienced. Since it was presented by Guy Masterson – a man who’d been performing in and bringing shows to the Fringe for the last few – under the banner of The Centre for International Theatre, I was expecting a high standard - but it surpassed my expectations. Absolutely brilliant. I only gave it 4.5 stars; it really deserved 5, but I was a bit hesitant about giving full marks (so to speak) to the first show I reviewed so I didn’t.

Bully

Another show from Guy Masterson’s Centre for International Theatre.

In an even smaller space at Higher Ground, Bully is about growing up in a broken home and dealing with being gay in a decidedly hostile environment. It was only a few minutes in when I realised it was in verse, which gave it a very interesting feel; with his accent it made me think of mid-2000s British lad-rapper Mike Skinner and his project The Streets.

A great show; moving and thought-provoking – and I’m now Twitter-friends with the writer/performer.

Day 2
Saturday February 20

Little Grey Wolf – ATG review.

I had such high hopes for this show. As soon as the spooky girl puppet (I was still thinking about days later) appeared I thought I was in for a treat, but it wasn’t to be the case. The best thing was the puppetry, but it was sadly underused. I guess maybe it was a company who’d previously done puppet shows but were attempting to branch out into something different.

There’s potential there, though. They just have to find their feet.

Back of Burke – ATG review.

The review pretty much covers it. One woman, a few characters – including a few sheep, which really was the high point. And no, that’s not sarcasm.

My Name is Rachel Corrie – ATG review.

This was one I was very much looking forward to seeing. I think I first heard about it reading something about Alan Rickman; he, along with Katherine Vine had put the show – about the life of a young American student who was killed in Palestine while protesting the destruction of homes and infrastructure by the Israelis – together from Corrie’s diaries, emails and phone conversations.

The review covers pretty much everything; there were some problems with lighting and the idea of projecting words/phrases onto the cardboard box set was a good one, but it didn’t work very well.

I also should have given it 4.5 stars rather than 4. But I’d already given Scaramouche Jones 4.5, and it was – in my opinion at least – a better show so I couldn’t. Fingers crossed no-one shows my review to Alan Rickman; he might go all Professor Snape on me...

Day 3
Sunday February 21

Austen’s Women

One performer, fourteen characters. Rebecca Vaughan does an amazing job of portraying some of Austen’s most beloved – or most disliked – female characters. I’ve been an Austen fan since appearing in a production of Emma (I played Frank Churchill, hilariously enough; I tried for Reverend Elton but didn’t get it) but haven’t read anywhere near as much as I should have.

I did think it went on a bit, though – maybe one or two fewer would have pleased me more.

The Event

This was something different. The performer was an American with a voice like an 60s television advertisement; the play itself a very clever desconstruction of the process and psychology of performance.

Day 4
Monday February 22

Livefish – ATG review.

Again, the review pretty much covers it. I’m not a big fan of dance/movement but this mixed in good, funny dialogue so it was okay.

Day 5
Tuesday February 23

Nikki Aiken Presents

I saw Nikki Aiken’s show in the Cabaret Fringe last year; it was brilliant so I knew I’d be seeing this if I could – it also helped that the very talented Matthew Carey was involved. But it was a great show with lots of fun songs and Nikki – a wonderful local talent – showing off her considerable singing and comedic skills.

For some reason it started half an hour late, which was a bit of a problem ‘cause I had a show to review afterwards, but I got there in time.

In Search of Atlantis – ATG review.

There was some confusion regarding how to actually get into the venue – called The Bunka, it’s out the back of the Austral where the beer garden used to be – but I got there eventually.

As the review states, they were very much in the vein of musical comedy groups – Tripod, Tenacious D, Flight of the Conchords – and they were very good musically and very funny. Using a mandolin will always score points with me.

Day 6
Wednesday February 24

Hilariously, my editor wrote me an email concerned about my mental state; there were, apparently, two typos in the last review I’d sent in. I reassured him that while I was indeed tired (the lack of sleep had started to have some effect by this point) but it was more because of haste than fatigue – I’d been in a rush to eat and get back into town in time for the show.

Jane Was Sixteen Yesterday! – ATG review.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It was an interesting concept with good potential; if the writer/director (who I’m acquainted with since he’s involved in Adelaide theatre) gives it a do-over I think it could be much better.

Inanimate Eats Rage – ATG review.

Hoo boy. Was not really expecting this. Very, very strange – but (as the review mentions) there was a weird kind of cathartic effect to watching a guy in a chicken-wire cage smash things up while a huge angry bald man yelled at him.

Again, an interesting concept but one that needed to be developed a lot further.

Day 7
Thursday February 25

The lack of sleep had really gotten to me by this point. When I get tired I get more than a a little weird (okay, weirder than usual) – by which I mean the filter I apply to my actions gets loose and I say and do things that I normally know I shouldn’t. So, I was saying strange rambling things and snapping at people for pointing out I was saying strange rambling things.

Not good.

My Sweet Specter – ATG review.

I think my tiredness made me lower my standards just slightly on this one; it was really more of a 3-star show than a 3.5. But it was a bunch of young people trying something out, and that’s a good thing in and of itself.

Seeing the Star Theatre – where I’ll be performing in Tempest later in the year – was good; yes, I’d seen stuff there before (and got a walk-through during the audition), but it’s handy to get another look and think a bit more about the space and what we might end up doing with it.

Day 8
Friday February 26

In a fit of reconciliation (that I can only imagine was also the result of sleep deprivation – you know, ‘cause I’m really a hard bastard who’d never worry about such things) I decided I’d buy chocolate (specifically Haigh’s chocolate bears) for the co-worker’s who’d had to put up with my less-than-stellar behaviour the previous day. They seemed somewhat mollified by this.

Servant of Two Masters – ATG review.

This...wasn’t great. In fact, by giving it 1.5 stars it’s technically the equal-worst rating I’ve ever given, tying with the nightmare that was The Frankie Mullet Interview in Fringe 2009.

But it wasn’t the result of sleep deprivation; it really was that bad. I’d probably have been happier had I been able to talk up a few people, but they hadn’t been able to get their programs printed so I had no way of naming those who were worth mentioning – basically, I decided I couldn’t just write ‘girl who played Truffles’ if I didn’t have her name.

Yes, I’m aware that productions always have their problems and that getting a full cast of talented actors is difficult – but that doesn’t mean people don’t have the right to know what they’re getting into before they buy tickets to something; it’s my responsibility as a reviewer to point out the serious flaws.

In situations like this what I like to think happens after a negative review comes out is that the director of the show sits the cast down and either takes responsibility for his or her actions – because, really, when it comes down to it, that’s their job – or chews them out for not doing what they were supposed to (if that was the case). Sadly, I suspect this doesn’t happen often enough and instead the director will say that the reviewer has no idea about theatre and can be safely ignored.

Some people will believe that; others will know better. Having been in poorly-reviewed shows that have deserved it, and those which haven’t (as much at least) I knew which was which.

What’s made this slightly more hilarious is that I’m now twitter-friends with the girl who played the lead; I found her commenting on Man Covets Bird (more on that later) and followed her; in turn she followed me and then ‘thanked’ me for my review. It took me a few minutes to work out who she was, but once I did it was a bit bizarre for me; I’d never had a random meeting with someone who I’d given a scathing review to. But she seems to be okay with it, which is a relief.

I like to think that when I’m less-than-positive about something I explain why. To have someone not understand why I said what I’d said would mean that I’d failed in my role as a reviewer.

Oh, and I’m still working on this piece having had the first rehearsal for the show I’m in (Tempest) and found that I’m working with someone else from this show – these people keep on showing up!

Sound and Fury’s Private Dick

For some reason I thought I’d seen a Sound and Fury show at a previous Fringe, but as I was waiting in line to go in and the performers were wandering around and speaking to people (in character) I realised that wasn’t the case. But I didn’t let this colour my enthusiasm; this show was (at the time) number one on TalkFringe¹ so I wasn’t going to worry about my apparent inability to remember names.

Anyway, the show was brilliant, side-splittingly hilarious – an homage to noir detective stories of the 40s/50s. The three guys played a dozen (or so) characters (including one excellent Peter Lorre-esque one) between them, making rapid costume (and wig) changes behind the tiny stage. While there was a solid story, significant sections of the dialogue were improvised (or, at least, that’s how it seemed) and the result was some very clever, well-thought-out wordplay with the freshness of on-the-spot reactions.

Sadly, the group seems to (at least, from what I hear) be dissolving; a shame, since I’d love to see them again.

¹TalkFringe is the official Fringe feedback page; people write reviews and give ratings and the results are calculated to show which shows people like the most. It's quite a handy way to see what's likely to be good relative to other shows.

Day 9
Saturday February 27

My inability to sleep properly continued. I felt so awful I had to have a nap before heading out for the afternoon/evening’s entertainment. Even then I ended up going at least an hour and a half later than I’d originally intended to leave.

Soundwave

If you aren’t familiar with it, Soundwave is a touring rock festival – kind of like a slightly smaller-scale Big Day Out but with more focus on metal, punk, hardcore and emo acts. I’d never been before – I probably would have gone in 2009 only my friends Dan and Amy were getting married that afternoon – but this year I’d decided to go from the moment that Faith No More were announced as the headline act.

Weirdly enough, I wouldn’t count myself as a huge FNM fan – I like their singles but a lot of the album tracks I’d heard were too strange (genre-bending and experimental) for my tastes – but they’ve got an excellent reputation as a live act and I’d never seen them before. Plus a couple of my friends were massive fans and would definitely be going – and, since (because we’re all so busy) I don’t get to spend as much time with them as I’d like, I thought it’d be good opportunity to hang out with them doing something fun.

Despite my seriously diminished energy levels, I decided – for reasons of practicality – to ride my bike; this probably isn’t as dramatic as it sounds ‘cause it’s only about 6km from my place to Bonython Park, where it was on. Driving was out ‘cause any nearby parks would have been taken by those who’d gone in the five or so hours since the gates opened; public transport was also discarded as an option because, since it required two buses, it’d take at least an hour to get there and probably twice as long to get home – if that was even a possibility by the time the show finished.

But I got there okay – despite some precarious situations caused by construction on the Port Road tram extension - and after tracking down the others we set about watching some bands.

I caught the end of Paramore, who sounded okay; we then headed a bit closer to catch Placebo. I’d seen them before at a Big Day Out years ago, but they’ve changed a bit since then and released a few albums, so I got to see them play stuff I’d never seen them play before.

We had a meal break and then wandered back into the crowd to get closer to the stage for Faith No More while Jane’s Addiction was on. I’d also seen Jane’s Addiction at a Big Day Out (I don’t think it was the same one) but it was good to seem them again, too – ‘cause they’re excellent live.

After Jimmy Eat World (to whom I’m indifferent) went off we spent way too long waiting for Faith No More to come on – the whole idea of the two-sided stage is that that doesn’t happen; it technically allows the band on one side to set up while the band on the other side is performing.

But they came on eventually, and were brilliant. They played almost all of their big songs: Epic, Digging The Grave, Easy, and my favourite, Stripsearch – which they lead into with a fun version of Chariots of Fire; you can see them do it at another gig here.

All-in-all it was a excellent set. So glad I got to see them. Yeah, I’d probably have preferred to see them do a standalone gig, but I’ll take what I can get. At this point in their career I don’t necessarily assume they’re ever going to be back.

Day 10
Sunday February 28

Once again I spent most of the day doing very little beyond trying to rest. It didn’t work especially well, but by mid-afternoon I wasn’t too bad.

Weights

An autobiographical show by a blind African-American guy named Lynn – who happens to be a writer, performance artists and former frickin’ blind Judo world champion – who lost his sight in a bar fight in the late 70s. Damn. Very clever and interesting – as well as touching and inspiring. The guy himself was simply amazing.

Words They Make With Their Mouths – ATG review

Yet another one-person show (this was the ninth so far), this also featured multiple characters – something the performer was very good at. It’s also one of those shows where there’s not a lot I can actually say about it, other than what’s in the review. It really did remind me of Bret Easton Ellis’s earlier works like Less than Zero and The Rules of Attraction, which is kind of interesting if it was a deliberate choice.

Day 11
Monday March 1

I was still suffering from poor sleep and diminished energy so it was probably a good thing I only had the one show to see.

Open Mic

This was an original show, a play with song, written/directed by a fried of mine, with another friend in it. The characters are either staff or regulars of a bar that has an open mic night once a week.

It was, for the most part, clever and funny with some good performances – though I did feel it was a bit too long, especially for a Fringe show, particularly when I’d been hoping for (and needing) an early night.

Day 12
Tuesday March 2

Two shows in a row at the Bakehouse Theatre in the city meant I didn’t have to worry about getting from one venue to another.

Antigone – ATG review

Really not what I expected. As the review indicates, it was only based on Antigone, rather than a straightforward production of it. I do kind of wish they’d gone for the traditional version ‘cause I’ve never seen it.

Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus – ATG review

By the same company - and in the same space - as Antigone, I wasn’t really sure what they were going to do with Frankenstein, but it turned out to be a much less confronting work, and far more enjoyable.

Day 13
Wednesday March 3

Another night with only one show – and and early one at that; it was to start at 7 and presumed to only run for just over an hour.

Man Covets Bird – ATG review

I’m not sure whether it comes through in the review – fanboyish adoration is frowned upon - but this was one of the most amazing shows I’ve ever experienced. And I use that word (rather than ‘seen’, which would be the word I’d usually use) to describe it, because it was not just something one ‘saw’; it really was an experience – a truly engrossing, captivating, mesmerising piece of theatre.

Obviously, it’s not the sort of thing that you’re going to see very often. I shudder to think of what the budget for it was; while you could save money and do a stripped down version of it (minus perhaps the real grass, the projection and the live music), it would result in a very different production. On paper the story itself is quite thin; with everything else added on it’s the basis for a profound experience.

Really, it’s unusual for me to like something like this; call me old-fashioned, but I’m a believer in everything requiring a strong narrative – which this isn’t. But with this show it didn’t matter.

I just hope it comes back for a return season. Not enough people got to see it.

Day 14
Thursday March 4

Amanda Palmer

This was actually the first ticket I bought to this year’s Fringe – mostly because I was fairly sure it would sell out. I’d seen Dresden Dolls at the UniBar a few years back, but was keen to catch the First Lady of Punk Cabaret again.

She did not disappoint, playing almost entirely new material – in fact, she said at the start that if we were there to hear ‘the best of Dresden Dolls we were pretty much fucked’ – and it was great. A bunch of songs that she’s written in the last couple of weeks and a guest appearance from a Melbourne act ‘The Jane Austen Argument’ – the song of theirs they collaborated on was brilliant – and some other great tunes.

What she also mentioned is that she’s likely to be back early next year – on her honeymoon with Neil Gaiman – so fingers crossed it’ll be a full-length gig rather than an hour-long Fringe set.

Cole’s Girls – ATG Review

Once again the review covers it. It started a bit late and ran well over time, which was annoying since it was a week night and I was still wanting as much sleep as I could get.

Day 15
Friday March 5

I was down for three shows but wasn’t as concerned about the late finish because I knew I could sleep in the next day. Of course I didn't, but I wasn't to know that at the time.

Austen Found

Advertised as ‘the undiscovered musicals of Jane Austen’, I’d arranged to see this with a friend, who’d bought the tickets the previous week; however, the reviews weren’t promising. But I kept that to myself since, given the fact that it is a semi-improvised show, it was entirely possible that they were just having an ‘off night’ when the critics were there.

This turned out to be the right attitude; it turned out to be a great show. I’ve got a fairly low opinion of improv unless it’s done exceptionally well – and these four women from New Zealand certainly managed to achieve that. There were moments when we were nearly rolling in the aisles.

I was so impressed I even bought a fridge magnet.

Philip Escoffey: Six Impossible Things Before Dinner

Philip Escoffey is a mentalist – yes, like the television show – which is something I’d never experienced before. But I’m very glad I went; it was one of the most genuinely entertaining shows I’ve seen. He essentially gets people from the audience to choose things at random and proceeds to predict what they’ve chosen – cards, for example. But he has several ‘tests’ (the ‘six impossible things’) and each is more complex than the one before it and includes predicting things like numbers on a bingo page coloured at random (without the person looking), words picked from a dictionary and so forth.

It is, to put it mildly, stunning; his ability to make it seem like he is genuinely psychic (he assures the audience – repeatedly – that he is not) is mindblowing. It really would be easier to just assume that he does have some kind of ‘gift’ because for him not to have involves a level of cleverness and skill at sleight-of-hand that are nigh on unbelievable. Combined with an great stage presence and a quick wit he’s not just a mentalist but a genuine entertainer.

Oh, and he doesn’t have ‘stooges’ in the audience; I know this because I participated in one of the tests and called out the number of a bingo ball I picked from a vase.

Lady Carol

I’d seen Lady Carol in the previous year’s Fringe, as part of a show called Company of Strangers – probably the best thing I saw that year – so as soon as I’d noticed she’d be back this year I made sure I’d be able to catch her show.

‘A tall, blonde, gorgeous, foul-mouthed Irish ukulele-playing cabaret singer’ is how I describe her to people, and that pretty much covers it. She does lots of interesting covers – including Radiohead and a fantastic version of the Cab Calloway song Minnie the Moocher² - as well as originals. She had support from a keyboardist and a drummer this time around, and that added an interesting dimension.

A lot of what she played was what she’d played the year before but I didn’t care; I’ll happily go and see it all again if she comes back next year.

Here’s a clip of her from YouTube, playing Radiohead's Creep.

²Made (more) famous in The Blue Brothers.

Day 16
Saturday March 6

At some point during the week I’d realised I was coming dangerously close to being ‘over’ the Fringe – not so much because of the number of shows I’d seen but because of the lack of sleep I’d had and the fact that, because the weather had turned cold and wet, my plan to ride everywhere and avoid traffic and parking hassles had been rendered impractical.

So I decided to cut back on any further shows and only go to what I considered the ‘must-sees’ – which meant going into town in the afternoon, heading back home for a few hours and then coming back for another show. Kind of inefficient, but I didn’t really have a choice.

True West

Exhaustion kept me from seeing this last time it was on; considering everything I heard about it was overwhelmingly positive I wasn’t going to miss it this time around. I’d heard of the writer, Sam Shepard, before – he’s also an actor, having appeared in a few things: - but while I knew of his reputation as a playwright, I’d never seen a show of his performed.

Now, should anything else of his be produced here, I’m likely to go see it – since this was an excellent show, in that very intense, confronting and impactful style of modern American theatre.

According to Wikipedia there was a production in the US with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich as the leads – how awesome would that have been?

The Sociable Plover

Another production from Guy Masterson’s Centre for International Theatre, and this one had Guy himself in it.

It’s a great play – very well written, and extremely clever and it was made even better by having someone of Guy’s caliber in it, particularly since the opening scene – and a substantial section of the beginning of the play – has only the one character (the one played by him) in it, requiring someone capable of conveying the character using very few words.

And he does it spectacularly.

Day 17
Sunday March 7

Another day with a show in the early afternoon and another at night.

Under Milk Wood

I’d seen Guy Masterson’s one-man version a few years back and enjoyed it so I thought I’d see it again. However, while it was still good I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first time because a) exhaustion on my part, and b) the venue – last time was in the Union Hall at Adelaide Uni while this time was in a much smaller space at Higher Ground.

The Hamlet Apocalypse

Finding the venue for this was a bit of a challenge; it was in what was once the cinemas in Rundle Mall and only accessible via a laneway that I didn’t even know existed – despite passing it every day on the way to work.

It’s one I’m loath to talk too much about because I felt it’s too easy to diminish the impact by revealing the twist – though the blurb in the Fringe Guide did exactly that. But what exactly is going on isn’t really explained in the show itself, so you’re faced with a choice of either too much information ruining the surprise or too little and being confused. I’d like to think I’d have worked it out had they not explained it beforehand, but I’ll never know for sure.

Still, the production itself was excellent – I particularly liked the sound design, which helped make it even more disconcerting and scary - and it was a very clever and interesting idea.

Day 18
Monday March 8

Nothing. I did nothing, saw nothing, went nowhere – literally, because it was a public holiday.

You’d better believe I enjoyed it. I was supposed to go see Heroin(e) for Breakfast at Holden Street – and in a way I’m sorry I didn’t, because I’d only heard good things about it – but I hadn’t bought tickets and that meant I could talk myself out of going.

Day 19
Tuesday March 9

I was feeling somewhat better after my shut-in day so I decided I’d see a third show after the two I was reviewing.

Fear of a Brown Planet Returns – ATG review

These two guys were great – I hadn’t seen much comedy this Fringe; I probably should have seen more. It also reminded of while I hate racism a lot, I get to do so without having to suffer from it.

Ambidextrous – ATG review

There’s not much to say that wasn’t in the review.

Almost an Evening

The allure of this show was that each of the three plays were written by Ethan Coen – as in brother of Joel and co-creator of some of my all-time favourite films like Fargo, The Big Lebowski and No Country for Old Men.

There were some good bits, but overall this production reminded me that there are times when what can probably accurately be termed Jewish-American humour just doesn’t work as well in Australia, both in terms of the performances and the audience reactions.

What I mean by that is that I don’t think Australians are, in general, neurotic enough; also, the average Australian hasn’t had anywhere near as much exposure to Jewish-American humour as the average American – years of Seinfeld repeats on Go! (and, before them, Ten) notwithstanding – and certainly not anywhere near as much as theatre-going Americans.

That said there were some great comic moments, and I’m glad I got to see it.

Day 20
Wednesday March 10

The last night of the Fringe for me because on Friday I’d be heading off to Melbourne for the Global Atheist Conference (which I’ve already written about here) and I wanted the Thursday night to pack and try to get some rest.

The Snow Queen

There was no way I was going to miss this, a show by Theater Simple, a company who I’ve adored since I saw a show of theirs in the first Fringe I went to (way back in 1998) and who have been back nearly every Fringe since. Some of my best Fringe memories are of TS shows, including Notes From Underground, The Fever and the utterly brilliant 52 Pickup.

Unfortunately, this was the only show of theirs I’d be seeing in the 2010 Fringe, since their schedule had them doing most of their shows either during the day while I was at work or on the weekend I’d be in Melbourne – or both.

The Snow Queen, based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, was more of a kid’s show – TS seem to have moved in that direction in recent years – but it was still very well done (unsurprisingly; they have very high standards) and entertaining.

And that was it; Fringe 2010 was over.

Looking back

Sadly, while I saw some great shows, I was simply not able to get enough sleep throughout the festival to still be enjoying it by the final week. Next year I’ll either do less or – better yet – take time off work. That will, of course, depend on work.

Oh, and I'll also write about it a lot sooner. Considering I'm now looking around to buy a netbook, I'll have no excuse to not be more up-to-date with my commentary if I can carry around a device that I'll be able to put my thoughts into during those times when I'm between shows or waiting in line or on the bus.